Helena May Williams
by AnnaBanannaBobanna
Summary: Helena is a Muggle-born who was Sorted into Slytherin house but she doesn't support the Dark Arts like some of her fellow Slytherins.


**Preface**

"Wormtail," called Voldemort. The scruffy rat-like wizard came scampering forward and bowed so low that his nose was almost touching the floor.

"My Lord," stammered Wormtail.

"Bring me Bellatrix," said Voldemort.

"Y-yes, my Lord." Wormtail scattered off into the other room and returned moments later followed by a woman with flyaway black hair and crooked teeth.

"Get out, Wormtail!" said Voldemort. Wormtail scurried away, Voldemort flicking his wand at the door making it slam shut behind him. Bellatrix rushed forward and knelt down at Voldemort's feet.

"My Lord," she gushed. "What do you need me to do? I'll do anything, my Lord, to serve you…"

"Hush, Bellatrix," said Voldemort and she fell immediately silent, staring intently up at her master. "I need you to bring me a Mudblood by the name of Helena Williams."

Bellatrix nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes, I will, my dark Lord," she replied. "I won't let you down." She bowed her head, whispering her admiration for Voldemort, then got to her feet.

"Bring her to me alive," added Voldemort as Bellatrix backed from the room. She nodded, wide-eyed with excitement, then left the room.

Voldemort twirled his wand between his long fingers, still wondering what he was going to do with the Mudblood. Most of him wanted to kill her but a part of him thought that he should use her first.

He had, of course, only given Draco Malfoy the job of killing Albus Dumbledore as a punishment for Lucius. He suspected that Draco would fail and that Severus would have to do it, but it would be more useful to him if Severus was able to continue to infiltrate the Order. He doubted whether Draco could succeed; however, if he were to have help...

He'd only have to threaten her family and she'd be begging to do anything. And to ensure that she wouldn't tell anyone… he would make her feel the utmost shame. But, he thought, he could not let his Death Eaters know. They wouldn't understand why he had done it but, and he smiled at the thought, he knew the best ways to torture someone.

**Chapter One**

Helena woke late on Saturday morning to a rhythmic pecking sound on her street-side window. She pulled back her covers and reluctantly rose from her bed, grabbing a bronze coin from a little bag on her dresser as she made her way over to the window. She drew back the curtain and through squinting eyes saw a large tawny owl perched on her window sill, clutching the _Daily Prophet_ in its beak. Helena opened the window, took the wizarding newspaper and popped the Knut in the little bag tied to the owl's leg. The owl took off and Helena returned to her bed to read an article about the new Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, and the increased security at Hogwarts.

_Newly appointed Minister for Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, spoke today of the tough new measures taken by his Ministry to ensure the safety of students returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this autumn._

'_For obvious reasons, this Ministry will not be going into detail about its stringent new security plans,' said the Minister, although an insider confirmed that measure include defensive spells and charms, a complex array of counter-curses and a small task force of Auror dedicated solely to the protection of Hogwarts School._

Helena felt a certain amount of reassurance from reading this. She had feared that, being a Muggle-born, she might've been a target for the Death Eaters but seeing as they hadn't come for her, nor had the Ministry offered her and her family any kind of protection, she assumed that she was not on their radar.

There was a knock at the door and she shoved the _Daily Prophet_ under her duvet before saying, "Come in."

Helena still hadn't told her parents about You-Know-Who's return. She didn't want to worry them when there was nothing they could do about it.

Her mother, Gwen, came into her room, rolling her eyes at the sight of Helena still in bed.

"Did you forget that Megan and Rhys are coming round for lunch?"

Helena groaned and got back out of bed.

"Hurry up," said Gwen. "I need you to run down to the shops."

"OK, I'll be down soon," said Helena. She put on a sundress and flipflops then picked up her wand from her bedside table, tucking it in one of the pockets of her dress. She went downstairs and was handed some money and a grocery list by her mother and was ushered out the door.

The shops were quite busy on a Saturday morning but Helena didn't mind; she felt quite safe from any Death Eater attack when she was surrounded by Muggles.

Once she had her mother's groceries she started walking back home but as she cut across the park to her house, she knew that something was wrong. The park had been crawling with people when she had come through only half an hour ago but now it was eerily empty. She switched her groceries to one hand and pulled her wand out of her pocket with the other, looking around her. She started walking swiftly towards her home, breaking into a run as she got closer.

Suddenly there was a loud crack and a woman appeared in front of her, wielding a wand right at Helena. She skidded to a stop and her wand went flying. The woman grabbed her and everything went dark and she couldn't breathe; it felt as though she was being twisted and squeezed until suddenly it stopped and they were no longer in the park.

They were in a dark lane with forest on either side and ahead was a tiny rundown hut with two masked men guarding the door. Helena's head was spinning from what she assumed was her first time apparating and her knees collapsed.

"Get up," spat the woman. She started dragging her along the lane towards the shack. Helena tried to struggle against her but she held her wand to her throat and whispered in her ear,

"Stop struggling, or I'll kill you. Now walk." She shoved Helena along as the two masked guards stepped aside. The woman dragged her inside and she shoved her onto the floor.

"That'll be all, Bellatrix," came a cold voice from the other side of the room.

"But, my Lord," spluttered Bellatrix, "I… I was hoping…"

"That is all," commanded the voice. Bellatrix reluctantly left the room looking thoroughly disappointed.

Helena slowly raised her gaze from the floor and tried to look brave as she stared straight into the cruel face of Lord Voldemort.

"Stand up," he ordered. Helena didn't move, her whole body frozen with fear. Voldemort pointed his wand at her and she felt herself get to her feet, still unable to move.

"Crucio," hissed Voldemort. Helena screamed and fell back to the floor, writhing and her eyes rolling back into her head. Voldemort laughed softly as he watched for a moment, then lifted the curse. Helena lay there for a moment as she caught her breath then she managed to roll over and push herself back up to her feet.

"Are you going to kill me?" she asked. Much to her surprise, Voldemort lowered his wand.

"No," he said, so quietly that Helena was sure she had misheard him. "Why would I kill someone from my own house? You are a Slytherin, aren't you?"

"Yes," said Helena, "but…" She took a deep breath and said quickly, "I'm not on your side." Voldemort leapt up from his seat and ran over to her. Helena stood her ground as Voldemort towered over her and pressed the point of his wand against her chin. Then he slowly moved his wand down to her left arm and he jabbed her with it. Black ink started to flow through her arm and Helena gasped when she saw the shape that was forming. She'd seen it in the _Daily Prophet_ after the Quidditch World Cup – Voldemort's mark. She tried to pull her arm away but it was like Voldemort's wand was connected to her arm and it wouldn't let her move away.

"I have a job for you," said Voldemort when the Dark Mark was complete.

"I won't do anything for you," said Helena through gritted teeth. Voldemort waved his wand and suddenly Helena felt as though she was being strangled. She lifted her hands to her neck but there was nothing there.

"I won't hesitate to kill you, or your family, if you don't do as I say!" said Voldemort loudly. He glanced at the door and lowered his voice when he spoke again. "I have given Draco Malfoy a job to do at Hogwarts this year and you will make sure nothing stops him from doing it. You will not tell him or anyone else about it, and I'll know if you do, and I will torture and kill you and everyone you care about."

Helena nodded quickly and Voldemort waved his wand again. The pressure around her throat vanished and she gulped down breaths of air as Voldemort called for Bellatrix to come back in.

At first Bellatrix looked shocked to see that Helena was alive but it was quickly replaced by glee as she thought that her master was going to let her kill her.

"My Lord," she cried. "You have saved her for me… Thank you, my Lord."

"No," said Voldemort. "I need you to take her back."

Bellatrix's smile faltered.

"My Lord?"

"Take her back!" spat Voldemort at Bellatrix. She grabbed Helena and thrust her out of the hut. They disapparated back to the park where Bellatrix left her and went back to Voldemort, asking him,

"My Lord, why didn't you kill the Mudblood?"

"Her death will come," said Voldemort, "when she has outlived her use."

Helena fell to the ground when Bellatrix released her and by the time she opened her eyes she had disapparated. She groped around the grass for her wand and held it tightly in her shaky hand once she found it. She quickly gathered up the groceries and ran across the rest of the park to her house. Her aunt and uncle were getting out of their car on her driveway but Helena ignored their greetings and went straight into the house, dumping the groceries at the bottom of the stairs before leaping up them and shutting herself in her bedroom.

She felt sick and ran to her bathroom to throw up. Her mother started calling her to come downstairs so Helena quickly washed her face, tucked her wand back in her pocket and put on a cardigan to cover up the Dark Mark on her lower left arm then went downstairs, trying to forget what had just happened for now. She went into the kitchen where Gwen was unpacking the groceries.

"Why did you leave these in the hall?" she asked. "And you weren't very careful; some of the eggs are broken."

"Sorry, Mum," said Helena. "I was gonna bring them in but I really needed the bathroom."

"Right, well, go say hello to Megan and Rhys, then get some lemons off the tree," said Gwen. "I need you to make some lemonade." Helena nodded then went into the living room where her aunt was telling her father about her eldest son's latest achievements.

"Hi Megan, hi Rhys," said Helena.

"Well, hello Helena," said Rhys. "Why were you in such a hurry before?"

"Bathroom."

Rhys laughed. Helena crossed the room and went through the sliding door into the backyard to get the lemons. She gripped her wand the whole time she was outside, filling the other pocket of her dress with lemons, then rushing back inside. She had to let go of her wand inside the house; she didn't want to worry her parents and her aunt and uncle didn't know that she was a witch. They thought that she went to boarding school in England.

She took the lemons into the kitchen and made a pitcher of old-fashioned lemonade then put it in the fridge to cool.

"You're awfully quiet, Helena," said Gwen as she stacked savouries on a plate. "Are you OK?"

"Fine," Helena mumbled. "Actually, I don't feel very well."

Her mother looked concernedly at her.

"You do look quite pale," she commented. "I think you should go lie down. I'll tell the others that you aren't well and I'll put some lunch aside for when you feel better."

"Thanks." Helena didn't linger and went straight back upstairs to her room. She closed her window but was forced to open it again since it was so hot. She lay on her bed, remembering what Voldemort had said.

He asked her to help Draco Malfoy. No, not help; make sure nothing stops him from doing it – that was what he said. But he didn't tell her what Malfoy was doing. How was she supposed to make sure nothing stopped it from doing it if she didn't even know what _it_ was? And what if she couldn't do it? Voldemort would kill her and her family.

Why had he even asked her to do it? Surely he knew that she and Malfoy weren't friends since Malfoy was obsessed with blood purity. As was Voldemort, yet he tattooed her, a Muggle-born, with his mark. Helena didn't understand why he'd done it, but she knew that she would have to do what he asked and she couldn't tell anyone. She would be so ashamed if someone found out that she was working for Voldemort, even though she didn't have a choice. She wanted to stand up to him but he would've killed her family.

There were still a few weeks until she returned to Hogwarts and there was nothing she could do until then. She needed to push it to the back of her mind and act normal so she didn't worry her parents. Of course, it was hard to try and forget something when a constant reminder was inked into your arm.


End file.
